What is the best way to develop a brand strategy? Our guide outlines the 3 perspectives you need to consider for a strong brand strategy.
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Humans have always been particularly inventive when it came to finding the way to their goal. What began with the orientation on celestial bodies developed from compass and map to satellite-supported GPS. But whether as a consumer or B2B decision-maker; transferred to the world of consumption and purchasing, many people would like more tools and signals of this kind for navigating the “market jungle”. Our article will guide you on the right path to a strong brand strategy that will cater to their needs.
Perspectives to develop a strong brand strategy
1. Orientation is required – outwards and inwards
The selection of brands and offers is very broad in the vast majority of product categories today and tends to change faster and faster. This is generally attractive for the customer side, but it usually does not make decision-making easy. Which brand offers me the most functional and / or emotional benefits and best addresses my needs? Brands today have to perceive and actively fulfill their classic orientation function in order to convince and retain customers.
In addition to this external orientation function, the brand also plays a major role internally in the company. Clarity about the strategic direction of a brand is an essential factor for effective work in the operational area. Employees have to deal with more and more touchpoints in communication and sales or are active brand ambassadors themselves. If the orientation of the brand is clear, differentiating and linked to the company’s resources and competencies, it can act as the interface between the corporate or brand strategy and the “frontline” on the market.
2. Brands in hyper competition
The term “hyper-competition” was coined in 1994, but has steadily gained in relevance over the years. The following examples illustrate this aspect, which underlines the need for a strong brand positioning with external and internal orientation.
Vertically integrated providers such as Casper mattresses or razor blades and cosmetics from Dollar Shave Club – meanwhile bought by Unilever — specialize in a single product category and try to roll it up with innovative products, cheaper production and direct sales.
The consumer goods business has long been the sole domain of blue chip companies such as Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Henkel. These companies still dominate numerous product categories with their well-known brands. But they are in increasing competition with mostly well-positioned niche brands. One example is the spice brand Ankerkraut, which is now also available on the shelves at retail giants in addition to the long-established brands.
With their own brands, retailers successfully developed a new type of brand decades ago. This strategy has also been carried over into the digital world. Was z. For example, when Zalando started as a platform for third-party brands, they now offer fashion items across a total of 17 of their own brands under the collective term “ zLabels ”.
3. Brand positioning as a central control instrument
But how do you go about developing an effective brand strategy that creates internal and external orientation? The most fundamental building blocks of the brand strategy are defined by the brand portfolio and the brand architecture. The associated parameters such as the number of brands owned by a company and their hierarchy (mono-brand, umbrella brand, multi-brand approach, etc.) are usually of an extremely long-term nature and except for drastic events such as company formation, mergers or acquisitions are rarely relevant for decision-making.
Brand positioning as a central strategic tool is located below this at the level of the individual brand. The positioning of a brand represents its core with a stable content. Under this prerequisite, it can fulfill the urgently needed orientation function on the market and in the company.
The 3 crucial questions to ask
To achieve this, three perspectives must be taken when developing brand positioning: that of the customer, the competition and the company. Because only an attractive and differentiating brand, the offer of which can be provided by the company in a sustainable and credible manner, is equipped for today’s hyper-competition. As a brand decision maker, ask and answer the following questions:
- Customer perspective: How does the brand create attractiveness and identification potential?
- Competitive perspective: How does the brand differentiate itself from the competition?
- Company perspective: What is the brand’s mandatory value proposition?
If you can’t answer these questions clearly, the brand won’t give the customer a clear answer either. So she lacks the charisma to convince people. The brand is unable to assert itself against the competition.
The positioning of a brand is ideally valid in the long term. However, the prevailing market and competitive situation also requires an agile understanding in the area of brand strategy. A high level of attention for company and brand-relevant influencing factors is necessary in order to be able to act or react if necessary and to set strategic parameters for the brand – u. U. also the brand positioning – to be able to adapt effectively.
